Mussel boebotie, pumpkin fritters

A tasty mussel recipe which is served with crisp pumpkin fritters and a flavoursome tomato relish.

(Makes: 4 Servings) (Prep Time: 20 minutes) (Cooking Time: 45 minutes)

Ingredients For The Mussel Boebotie: 2 tbsp Olive oil 1/2 tbsp Butter 1 onion, finely chopped 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped 200g grated carrot 2 tsp curry powder 1/2 tsp ground ginger 1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg 1 tsp ground turmeric pinch Chilli powder 1kg mussels, cooked and shelled 15g fresh breadcrumbs 1 egg, beaten 1 tbsp ground almonds 1 tbsp lemon juice Salt 6 Bay leaves

Ingredients For The Topping: 200ml Soured cream pinch salt and black pepper 2 Eggs

Ingredients For The Pumpkin Fritters: 450g cooked pumpkin 50g plain flour 1/2 tsp Salt 1 tsp ground cinnamon 2 tsp Baking powder 1 tbsp Sugar 2 Eggs, beaten Milk vegetable oil, for frying

Ingredients For The Charred Tomato Relish: 3 plum tomatoes 1 red onion, finely diced 2 tsp chopped thyme 2 tbsp Olive oil 1/2 tbsp vinegar

Preparation:

Preheat the oven to 180°C/ gas 4.

Heat the oil and butter in a pan and gently cook the onion for 2-3 minutes until soft.

Add the garlic, carrot, and all the spices and cook for a further 2 minutes.

Stir in the mussels, breadcrumbs, egg, almonds and lemon juice.

Season to taste with the salt.

Pour into 6 large ramekins or 1 large oven-proof baking dish and place the bay leaves in the centre.

To Make The Topping; Whisk together all the topping ingredients and pour over the mussel mixture.

Cook for about 12 minutes for individual ramekins or 30 minutes for the large dish, until firm and golden.

To make the pumpkin fritters; place the dry ingredients in a food processor, add the eggs and process to form a thick batter.

The batter should hold its shape, if too thick add a little milk, if too wet, add a little more flour.

Heat the oil in a non-stick frying pan. Drop heaped tablespoons of the batter into the pan and fry till firm and golden.

Flip over and fry on the other side.

Serve warm sprinkled with a little cinnamon sugar if you like.

To make the relish; place the tomatoes on a hot barbecue or griddle pan and cook until the skins are charred.

Remove from the heat and cut into dice.

Mix the tomatoes with the onion, thyme, oil and vinegar and season with salt and pepper.

Serve mussels with the pumpkin fritters, charred tomato relish and rice too, if you like!